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Suggested topic: "For biologists, including biochemists, molecular biologists, cell biologists, physiologists, and ecologists." Does this leave anyone feeling left out? I think bioinformatics should be included as part of molecular biology, but technical/tool questions about computers or programming that are not specific to biology belong elsewhere. (In contrast, technical lab questions should be welcome.) I see no reason to restrict the site to academia: I think many industrial researchers (e.g., in the pharmaceutical industry) could be valuable contributors. – Vebjorn LjosaJul 14 '10 at 18:46

A better variation of the question would be about a species with a stereotypic development pattern: "How many somatic cells does an adult /C. elegans/ have?" (Answer: 959 for hermaphrodites and 1031 for males.) – Vebjorn LjosaJul 14 '10 at 17:10

To general as there are a lot of different ways different drugs might induce sleep. – ChristianJul 12 '10 at 12:37

Could be a much better example if you said "how does the drug xxxx put you to sleep?". – nicoAug 4 '10 at 8:25

@nico I don't know if the example would be good when rephrased. This is actually medicine, not really biology any more. But then again, how do you draw the line... – Joris MeysSep 28 '10 at 14:35

@Joris Meys: I don't know. I can say that drug xxx puts you to sleep because it binds to whatever channel and inhibits it. If we're talking about molecular pathways and such I think it would be more towards biology then medicine (generally a MD does not know/care too much about these details). Definitely we should refrain to say "take 3mg of the drug each 6 hours" or things like that of course. – nicoSep 30 '10 at 5:50

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@nico agreed. As I said, the line is thin... – Joris MeysSep 30 '10 at 20:47

@Borror0 Could you please provide an example of a "great off-topic example"? It might help the rest of us understand better your distinction, and phrase our questions better. Thanks. – muntooMar 7 '11 at 2:58

@muntoo: It's anything that could be mistaken to be on-topic but actually belongs on another site: gardening advices, medical advice, etc. If the question is bad (i.e. you would close it if it was asked), but not because it is off-topic (subjective, argumentative, too localized, too vague, etc.) it falls under "not a good example." – Borror0Mar 7 '11 at 19:37

@muntoo: No. It a common misconception but "The fact that a sample question is too broad or too subjective is a terrible, terrible, terrible reason to vote the question as a 'great off-topic example.' It does nothing to help you define your subject space, and even worse, it will likely mislead your audience." -Robert Cartaino – Borror0Mar 2 '11 at 2:07

I think it is the typical question to be expected from bio students at a Q&A site. It's suposed to be an experts Q6A site, but it will be open and public, so you'll have to deal with this kind of questions frequently. – Tomas NarrosFeb 15 '11 at 8:46

Intended to be off topic because it is an entirely medical question without reference to the underlying biology. – Vebjorn LjosaJul 19 '10 at 11:35

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I think this question is too broadly formulated.
"Works best" is fuzzy as hell, since it can mean risk/benefit ratio, cost/benefit ratio, or "never mind the consequences, I just want the pain gone". Furthermore, different age groups or phenotypes react differently to the same compound.
Answering this question would require a lengthy discourse, and StackExchange does not handle those too well.
Also, I'm not a big fan of giving medical advice on the internet. – ParanoiaPuppyJul 27 '10 at 22:44

Completely agree with ParanoiaPuppy, especially on medical advice on the Internet, which for me is a big no-no. – nicoAug 5 '10 at 12:16

This is a great off topic question (but I can't vote anymore). This is ornithology, a branch of zoology, that does not fit the description of this proposal. – NicojoAug 26 '10 at 8:49

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Then the site shouldn't be called "Biology" but "Biotechnology/physiology/lab-practice" or so. Biologists, including... does not exclude zoology. Actually, many biochemists would benefit a whole lot of diving into systematics a bit more often. /end-off-rant – Joris MeysSep 27 '10 at 16:23

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@Nicojo: Are you arguing that zoology (ornithology, entomology, and so on) should be excluded? Why? – Vebjorn LjosaSep 27 '10 at 17:18

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@Vebjorn: I may be mistaken, but at the beginning this proposal did not include ecology. Besides that, in the current proposal, it is mostly cellular and molecular biology that is targeted (biology done in the confines of the "indoor" laboratory). That is why I argue that zoology should be excluded. However, if the general purpose of this Q&A site should be biology from molecular biology to "what's blue, green and yellow that lives in a small island outside of singapore" type of question, then why not... – NicojoSep 29 '10 at 11:33

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@Nicojo: There's a whole set of high-level research questions to ask about systematics (see phylogenetic analyses and genomics), ecology (see e.g. spatia-temporal modelling and satellite based research) and every other branch of biology that is not necessarily carried out only in the lab. Why would these not have a place here? – Joris MeysOct 10 '10 at 19:08

Not very tactful is it? Nothing wrong with the question, just put in an impolite manner - which should be discouraged – LucasSep 17 '10 at 5:43

Argumentative and with no real answer, also off topic because it's not a question pertaining to biology, but politics and fashion... – NicojoSep 17 '10 at 17:34

@Nicojo Phrased, obviously, to be argumentative and hence OT. But I disagree with your "politics and fashion" assessment -- the question body could easily address valid biological points and invite a real biological answer. Hence I have to reluctantly concur with whoever voted "not a good example". – walkytalkySep 17 '10 at 22:17

Can someone propose a variant of this question that has been rephrased to be a tactful, specific, objective question about a published result? I think that might make for a good on-topic example, but I have already asked my allotted five questions. – Vebjorn LjosaSep 27 '10 at 17:26